Union Rags pulled away under sloppy conditions to win the Saratoga Special
The Grade 2 Saratoga Special Stakes witnessed an unbelievable run from an unbelievable colt, Union Rags, on 15 August, 2011, Upstate New York. It was certainly one extra ordinary performance by the 2-year-old.
The win and the run got jockey Javier Castellano jumping with joy, and if anyone had witnessed the race at Saratoga, they would know exactly why.
The 2-year-old colt, Union Rags, got up on a sloppy dirt track at Saratoga. Despite swerving out of control in the stretch and facing trying conditions from his post on the fence, Union Rags overcame the swift pace and romped past his rivals in fine style
to win the race.
The race was run over a distance of 6 ½ furlongs and Union Rags won by an unbelievable margin of 7 ¼ lengths in the sloppy muddy track.
The son of Dixie Union out of Tempo by Gone West covered the Saratoga Special dash event, which was only for 2-year-olds, in 1 minute and 18.33 seconds.
The 8 to 5 favourite to win the race, Stat, recently broke his maiden at Belmont Park on 9 July, 2011, by two lengths.
Stat was way behind the speedy colt and went on to finish second, 7 ¼ length behind the winner.
The 2-year-old Josie Carroll trained Indian Evening finished third, three lengths behind the runner-up.
Pre race workout by Union Rags was faster than 44 horses, that were covering the same distance as Union Rags at Saratoga.
He ran half a mile in 47.66 seconds and didn’t stop there, going on to make impressive fractions during the race as well.
He completed the half-a-mile faster than his prerace run, clocked in 45.55 seconds.
Union Rags showed immense pace before the upper stretch, as he was ahead in front of Statsby and then started pulling away and at the stretch call, Union Rags was in lead by 3 ½ lengths.
The winner earned a massive prize money of $290,000 and won his second race of his juvenile career.
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